COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that Anthony Barton Fortune, 57, owner of a Mandeville snowball stand, pleaded guilty as charged Monday (Dec. 4) to paying four teenage girls money and drugs for sexual favors. District Judge Peter Garcia sentenced him to a total of 15 years in prison.

Here are the charges to which Fortune pleaded guilty and received concurrent sentences:

Purchase of Commercial Sexual Activity of persons under 18, five counts, 15 years each

Production of Pornography, 10 years

Sexual Battery, 10 years

Indecent behavior with a juvenile, six counts, 7 years each

Distributing Xanax to persons under 18, two counts, 7.5 years each

Distributing marijuana to persons under 18, two counts, 7.5 years each

The crimes came to light when Mandeville police received a report that the snowball stand owner was paying teenage girls for sexual activities. Police later found about 40 photos of the girls posing nude and performing sex acts in the defendant’s apartment, which is connected to the back of the snowball stand. Two of the victims were 14 years old, one was 15, and another was 16 at the time of the crimes. The victims told police Fortune gave them marijuana and Xanax and that he paid them each a total of between $1,400 and $2,000. Police found marijuana and a grinder inside Fortune’s apartment.